Next Tuesday, Dec 13th we’ll be holding a special Learn Windows Azure training event for developers. It will provide a great way to learn Windows Azure and what it provides. You can attend the event either by watching it streamed LIVE online, or by attending in person (on the Microsoft Redmond Campus). Both options are completely free.

Learn Window Azure Event

During the Learn Windows Azure event attendees will learn how to start building great cloud based applications using Windows Azure.

I’ll be kicking off the day with a 90 minute keynote that will provide an overview of Windows Azure, during which I’ll explain the concepts behind it and the core features and benefits it provides. I’ll also walkthrough how to build applications for it using .NET, Visual Studio and the Windows Azure SDK (with lots of demos of it in action).

We’ll then spend the rest of the day drilling into more depth on Cloud Data and Storage, how to use the Visual Studio Windows Azure Tools, how to Build Scalable Cloud Applications, and close off with an Q&A panel with myself, Dave Campbell and Mark Russinovich.

Register Now for Free

The free Learn Windows Azure event will start at 9am (PST) on Dec 13th. You’ll be able to watch the entire event live on Channel9 or attend it in person. Both options are completely free.

Dealing with scientific data can be challenging – especially since it’s in many different formats, files etc. The SQL Labs release of Microsoft Codename “Data Explorer” looks to be a tool that can help bring together many different data sets in a more straight forward way. Not only is it an easy to use tool to bring the datasets together, you can also publish it out in a number of ways to make it easy to share the insight/results with others.

Have you ever had trouble finding data you needed? Or combining data from different, incompatible sources? How about sharing the results with others in a web-friendly way? If so, we want you to try Microsoft Codename “Data Explorer”. With "Data Explorer" you can:

Identify the data you care about from the sources you work with (e.g. Excel spreadsheets, files, SQL Server databases).

Automatically discover data, as we recommend datasets and data services from the Windows Azure Marketplace. Rather than spending your time looking for data, let us bring the data to you.

Easily enrich your data by combining it with data from other places. Use visualization tools to gain insights into your business.

Seamlessly publish your results and share them with colleagues. Generate data feeds that can be consumed by other tools. Continue your analysis in other tools, such as Excel or PowerPivot. Control what you share with whom, securely.